What’s News, Breaking: Tuesday, April 18, 2023

April 18, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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ZONING AMENDMENTS BEING CONSIDERED FOR BUSHWICK AND GRAVESEND SITES

BUSHWICK AND GRAVESEND — Rezoning requests at 1656 West 10th St. in Gravesend and 1160 Flushing Avenue in Bushwick are on the agenda for the next Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) meeting that Borough President Antonio Reynoso will convene in person on Monday, April 24, at 6 p.m. 1160 Flushing is a proposed mixed-use commercial building, according to the website YIMBY. The NYC Planning Commission’s portal website, which also shows the upcoming ULURP calendar, indicates that Allstar Homecare Agency is the primary applicant for 1656 W. 10th St., a proposed mixed-use residential and commercial development in Community Board 11, although it identifies the neighborhood as Bensonhurst instead of Gravesend.

Residents and businesses that would be impacted are invited to submit testimony to [email protected] no later than Friday, April 28.

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BOROUGH PRESIDENT, DEPT. OF AGING HOST INFORMATION FORUM FOR SENIORS

SUNSET PARK — Senior citizens aiming to age with dignity in their own homes may wish to attend an information session that Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s Constituent Services program will hold this Friday morning, April 21. Held in partnership with the NYC Department for the Aging at the United Senior Center of Sunset Park, Inc., the forum, running from 10:30 a.m. to noon will include overviews of the NYC Dept. of Aging’s services and a Q&A session.

Additional resources for the community will be made available at the session, hosted at the Senior Center of Sunset Park.

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DELEGATION OF BROOKLYN ELECTEDS DEMAND FEDERAL HELP FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS CRISIS

WASHINGTON, DC — New York’s Congressional and local leaders will hold a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, April 19, during NYC Immigrant Heritage Week, to address the city’s immediate asylum seeker crisis. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-09), other members of New York’s Congressional delegation, NYC City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, and immigration activists will demand federal action on the asylum crisis and reforms to long-term immigration policy.

New York has been the city most impacted by the recent surge of asylum seekers, with more than 50,000 people moving through the city’s intake systems in the last year.

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PETITION TO DEVELOP ‘THE CONEY’ GETS 3,363 SIGNATURES

CONEY ISLAND — “The Coney” casino and entertainment complex being planned to revitalize the historic Coney Island neighborhood has received a boost from locals, who have expressed support for the development. The local BID kicked off a door-to-door engagement campaign, which got 3,363 members of the community to sign a petition.

Robert Cornegy, a former City Councilmember serving Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, and the first Black Council speaker, stated, “After going door to door and business to business, it’s clear that there is a groundswell of support within the Coney Island community for the type of year-round jobs and economic development that a gaming and entertainment district would bring to the neighborhood.”

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BKLYN CORRECTIONS OFFICER CHARGED WITH ACCEPTING BRIBES AT SUNSET PARK PRISON FACILITY

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A correctional officer stationed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park has been charged in Brooklyn federal court with receiving bribes in exchange for providing contraband — including marijuana — to prison inmates. Quandelle Joseph, a correctional officer currently employed by the United States Bureau of Prisons and stationed at the Sunset Park complex, was arrested in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning, April 18. During his employment that began in May 2020, Joseph accepted tens of thousands of dollars from at least two different inmates to smuggle narcotics, cigarettes and cell phones into the MDC.

Mr. Joseph made his initial appearance at federal court in Brooklyn before United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho and he was released on a $50,000 bond pending trial.

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NYC SURPASSES MEGAWATT CAPACITY IN SOLAR ENERGY

CITYWIDE — Con Edison’s customers have connected more than 500 megawatts (MW) of solar generating capacity to the utility’s electric grid in the New York City region, which has lowered its energy bills while helping the state meet its climate and clean energy goals. There are now more than 55,000 solar systems converting sunlight to clean power in the New York City region, including panels atop homes and businesses.

Brooklyn ranks third among the five boroughs in generating capacity, while Queens emerged as the city’s largest solar market, with 18,501 customer-owned systems totaling 131 MW of generating capacity; by contrast, Manhattan has only 388 systems, according to a new report from Con Edison.

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REP. GOLDMAN PUSHES FOR FUNDING FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS

NATIONWIDE — As Yom HaShoah approached, U.S. Rep Dan Goldman (D-10/western Brooklyn) joined congressional colleagues to request funding for the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program, Holocaust Education within the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues. These programs support the nearly 60,000 Holocaust survivors living in the United States as well as educational efforts to improve awareness and knowledge of the horrors of the Nazi genocide against more than six million Jews during World War II.

A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that fewer than half of Americans can correctly answer multiple-choice questions about the number of Jews who were murdered or the way Adolf Hitler came to power — which was through a democratic process.

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YOM HASHOAH MEMORIALIZES THE 6 MILLION JEWS WHO PERISHED DURING THE HOLOCAUST

WORLDWIDE — The Jewish observance of Yom HaShoah, which concludes Tuesday, April 18, at sundown, commemorates the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, with the rise of the nationalist and totalitarian Nazi party starting in 1933. Six million Jews across German-occupied Europe — around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population — perished during the height of World War II in Nazi Germany and the countries it occupied.

The formal Hebrew name for this annual observance (the word Shoah means “the wind”) is “Yom HaShoah Ve-Hagevurah” — literally, the “Day of [Remembrance of] the Holocaust and the Heroism,” — and it is observed on the 27th day of Nisan, within a week of the conclusion of Passover.

Many Yom HaShoah programs in the U.S. and worldwide bring in Holocaust survivors as keynote speakers and incorporate a Holocaust-themed film and the recitation of songs, readings and names.

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AGs’ COALITION SUPPORTS NEW RULES TO DISCLOSE OWNERSHIP CONTROL OF NURSING FACILITIES

STATEWIDE — New York Attorney General Letitia James co-led a coalition of 18 of her counterparts to support a proposed U.S. Department of Health & Human Services rule on nursing home accountability. The rule would require nursing facilities and their owners to disclose the true decision makers who exercise control over operations, including managerial, and other information regarding nursing facilities, particularly from private equity investors and real estate investment trusts.

The coalition holds that such disclosure would improve the ability of attorneys general and their Medicaid Fraud Control Units to hold bad actors accountable for providing substandard care in nursing facilities.

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NINE MEN CHARGED IN CONSPIRACY INVOLVING $160M OF ARTWORK

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Valuable artwork is at the crux of a conspiracy theme involving a group of nine men being charged with fraud, evading U.S. sanctions and money laundering. A nine-count indictment was unsealed on Tuesday, April 18, charging a dual Belgian-Lebanese citizen, Nazem Ahmad, and eight co-defendants in the scheme that involved $160 million worth of artwork and diamond-grading services transacted through the U.S. financial system through a complex web of business entities set up to help Ahmad evade authorities. The U.S. had already sanctioned Ahmad for being a financier for Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization.

One of the eight co-defendants, Sundar Nagarajan, was arrested Tuesday morning in England and is in custody there until April 25. The others — including Ahmad — are still at large.

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HISTORIC GRAVESEND HOUSE TO BE DEMOLISHED BY DEVELOPERS

GRAVESEND — A 235-year-old Gravesend building that once served as the original village’s town hall and hosted George Washington on a visit is being demolished by real estate speculators, reports BK Reader, despite its long and historic past. The building, also known as “Spook Hall,” has accumulated centuries-worth of usage by Gravesend residents, first as a public building and then as a residence in 1873, after which it became the subject of numerous ghost stories and local legends.

“I can hear the bugles blowing and the drums rolling. I can see the ‘Spirit of 76’ marching down those quaint old streets. The ghosts of our forefathers answer,” wrote a letter-writer in a 1931 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Times on Gravesend’s historic town center.

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MAYOR PLEDGES TO LOWER FOOD-BASED EMISSIONS

CITYWIDE — Mayor Adams and city officials on Monday released the city’s first integrated greenhouse gas inventory, which revealed that emissions from the production and consumption of food represent 20% of NYC’s overall emissions, and pledged city agencies will reduce carbon emissions from food purchases by 33% by 2030, also urging businesses and private organizations to pledge to reduce emissions by 25%. As animal products like meat and dairy are the primary source of food emissions, the city has already taken steps towards this goal — NYC Health + Hospitals expects to serve 850,000 plant-based meals this year, reducing food-based carbon emissions by 36%; while the public school system introduced its Plant-Powered Fridays concept last year to educate kids on healthy, environmentally conscious food choices.

The new survey, modeled by EcoDataLab, includes emissions involved in the production of goods and services New Yorkers consume, whether or not that production occurs in New York City.

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EDUCATION PANEL TO VOTE ON SCHOOL BUDGET CUTS

CITYWIDE — Education activists are sounding the alarm after the announcement that the city’s Panel for Educational Policy plans on Wednesday, April 19, to vote on a proposed amendment to the five-year Capital Plan that would cut $2.2 billion and 22,000 planned new school seats, with north Brooklyn’s districts 13 and 15 and southern Brooklyn’s district 21 each facing cuts of hundreds of new seats — although Bay Ridge and Sunset Park’s district 20 might gain seats under the proposed changes. Advocacy group Class Size Matters says that the amendment does not take into account a state law that will require lower class sizes in the city’s already-overcrowded schools beginning next fall, and is urging residents to contact their local representatives and the DOE to speak out against the changes.

The full text of the amendments can be found online through the DOE’s website, while a breakdown of cuts by district was provided by Class Size Matters; members of the public can access the meeting and sign up to speak online on the DOE’s website or by phone by calling 929-205-6099 and entering meeting ID PIN 853-6797-4221# to gain access.

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BROOKLYN EARTH DAY FAMILY FUN THIS WEEKEND

BROOKLYN — Parents looking for green family fun are spoiled for choice this Earth Day weekend, with a number of eco-friendly events taking place all over Brooklyn. Brooklyn Bridge Parents provides the details on Friday’s Earth Day festival at Atlantic Terminal, which will feature crafts and adventure play with recycled materials; and, on Saturday’s clothes swap at car-free Albee Square, planting workshops and performances on Governors Island, the Brooklyn Public Library’s solar mini car races at Grand Army Plaza and more!

Public schools will be closed this Friday; parents can reserve free tickets to the Atlantic Terminal event online on Eventbrite.

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MISSING CHILD IN CROWN HEIGHTS

CROWN HEIGHTS — Police are urgently looking for missing girl Aniya Oyelaya-Jones, age 11, who was last seen on the afternoon of Monday, April 17, inside of her Crown Heights home. She is described as being 5’5″ tall and weighing 140 pounds, with a thin build, a medium complexion, black hair with gold braids and brown eyes; she was last seen wearing a gray sweater with black stripes and camouflage cargo pants.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782); the public can also submit tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

Missing Crown Heights girl Aniya Oyelaya-Jones. All tips given to police are strictly confidential.

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POLICE SEEK MEN IN CONEY ISLAND HATE BEATING

CONEY ISLAND — The NYPD’S Hate Crimes Task Force is seeking a group of men who on the afternoon of Saturday, April 15, approached Yemeni business owner Jawwal Sawaid, 58, inside of his shop on Mermaid Avenue and confronted him using ethnic slurs before striking the victim about the face and head, including with a metal pipe. Community members told CBS News that they are outraged and concerned about the incident, which was captured on security footage, as well as about other crimes in the area, coming together at a protest vigil on Monday to show solidarity with Sawaid and his family as he recovers from his injuries.

Do you recognize these men? All tips submitted to police are strictly confidential.

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GOWANUS ADVOCACY GROUP DEMANDS THAT STATE DEC FULLY DIG UP LAND CONTAMINANTS

GOWANUS — The Voice of Gowanus, in its latest dispatch about an upcoming community meeting, is urging people to demand that the state Department of Environmental Conservation be more thorough in the decontamination of brownfields in the district. Voice of Gowanus asserts that the DEC’s strategy of using Vapor Intrusion Barriers and Air Mitigation systems to reduce exposure is cutting corners and will not sufficiently detoxify the land, as these methods have never been used on sea-level land that is prone to flooding, and that the pollution will migrate, and its gases will continue to flow into homes or back into the canal.

During the April 20 meeting being held at the Children’s School from 7 to 9 p.m., the Voice of Gowanus will demand a full excavation cleanup “to proactively protect current and newly arriving residents from cancer risks… Otherwise, the EPA’s $1.5b Superfund cleanup will be an exercise in futility.”

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SPEEDING DRIVER KILLS WOMAN ON ATLANTIC AVE.

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A Hyde Park woman was killed while trying to cross Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn Heights on Sunday night, April 16, during a wild series of collisions on a dangerous segment of Atlantic Avenue. The pedestrian, whom the NYPD identified as 31-year-old Katherine Harris, had been within the marked crosswalk, with the traffic light in her favor, when the 27-year-old male driver of a 2012 Volvo sped westbound and ran a red light at Clinton St., striking the woman, whom EMS first-responders could not save. The Volvo driver then caused a chain reaction of collisions, in which he hit the driver of a Honda and both drivers then struck an outdoor dining structure on the north side of Atlantic, according to a preliminary NYPD investigation.

The Honda driver was not injured and the Volvo driver was arrested, with charges pending.

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CLEANUP BEGINS SOON AT ANOTHER GOWANUS BROWNFIELD SITE

GOWANUS — The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation will begin supervising a cleanup this month of 380 4th Avenue, a brownfield site in Gowanus that is adjacent to the U-Haul storage center. The applicant for development at that site, 380 4th Avenue Owner, LLC, will perform the cleanup of contamination with several components, including excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil to a minimum depth of 15 feet below ground surface and hotspot areas, as well as collection and analysis of confirmation soil samples to evaluate the remedy’s effectiveness and importing clean fill that meets the established Soil Cleanup Objectives for use as backfill.

A site-specific Health and Safety Plan (HASP) and a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) will be implemented during remediation activities, establishing procedures — such as required air monitoring as well as dust and odor suppression measures — to protect on-site workers and residents.

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BROOKLYN CHURCH HOSTS ONE OF NINE SIMULTANEOUS GUN BUYBACK EVENTS

SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG — One of nine simultaneous gun buybacks that New York Attorney General Letitia James is holding around the state will take place in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 29. The Brooklyn drop-off point is All Saints Roman Catholic Church on Throop Avenue, in the Broadway Triangle neighborhood near South Williamsburg, with the buyback running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Partnering with Attorney General James are Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and the New York City Police Department in this historic effort, with each buyback event offering money in the form of prepaid gift cards when a gun is received and secured by law enforcement officers on site.

Functional and non-working, unloaded firearms will be accepted, and no questions will be asked in this amnesty program.

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SALON ARTS SERIES IN BED-STUY

BED-STUY — Historic Black artistic organizations 651 ARTS and The Billie Holiday Theatre — honored by President Biden with the National Medal of the Arts last month — are joining forces this spring to present “Song Salon,” a live performance series inspired by the artistic gatherings known as salons that were popular in the 1920s, most notably those of Harlem arts patron and heiress A’Lelia Walker, that served as a safe space for Black creatives and thinkers to express themselves and helped to define the Harlem Renaissance. “In that spirit, the Song Salon was designed to be a supportive space and community for artists to explore their artistry and to connect with audiences on a more intimate and personal level,” wrote the groups in a press release.

This inaugural season of the series will feature performances each Thursday from emerging artists including Jordyn Davis on May 4, Terron Austin on May 11, Candice Hoyes on May 18 and Nicholas Ryan Gant on May 25.

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INDOOR GOLF COMING TO DOWNTOWN BK

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Golfzon, a company that provides immersive indoor golf experiences, is setting up shop in Downtown Brooklyn this fall, reports the New York Post, and has claimed an 18,000-square-foot space in the brand-new luxury 11 Hoyt building. The golf center is expected to also feature a cafe and lounge, serving craft beer.

The Korean company uses cutting-edge technology to allow simulator users to experience world-famous courses without leaving their neighborhoods, offering what an executive of the building’s developer called a “one-of-a-kind amenity for 11 Hoyt residents and a vibrant destination for the surrounding community.”

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PARK SLOPE ‘ROCKS’ BUDGET PARTICIPATION

PARK SLOPE — City Councilmember Shahana Hanif on Friday announced the results of her district’s most recent round of participatory budgeting, which recorded 4407 votes from local community members choosing which area improvement projects to fund. The six winning projects this cycle is providing for include 100 trees for District 39, a family resource center at P.S. 124, the rehabilitation of the Prospect Park Bandshell Lawn, seed funding for the CHiPS Food Pantry Truck, a “Repair Café” and a Gowanus urban forest stewardship program.

This voting cycle closed on April 2 and distributed $1.5 million in funding; District 39 residents can find updates on the councilmember’s website.

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QUANTUM INTERNET COMPANY EXPANDS IN NAVY YARD

WILLIAMSBURG — Qunnect, a cutting-edge tech company working on next-gen quantum communications solutions, on Friday announced that it has constructed two new research facilities in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for its GothamQ Network, a pilot program that piggybacks entangled pairs of photons onto telecom fiber cables in a loop between Brooklyn and Queens. According to a press release, the company hopes to use its research to usher in “new forms of secure communication,” and to prove the practicality of quantum networking by using its products in combination with existing infrastructure to form a backbone for future quantum computing technologies.

Quantum computers use specially linked pairs of subatomic particles to process large amounts of information more quickly and over much longer distances than are possible with a standard machine, but due to their unique data types, complicated upgrades to existing telecoms infrastructure are required in order for quantum computers to be able to communicate with each other — a problem Qunnect thinks it can solve for service providers.

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NY STATE TAXES WERE $9.5 BILLION LESS THIS YEAR

STATEWIDE — Tax collections for State Fiscal Year 2022-23 totaled $111.7 billion, $2.9 billion higher than the forecast released by the Division of the Budget (DOB) in the Amended Executive Budget financial plan at the beginning of March, according to the March State Cash Report that State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released on Monday, April 17. However, tax collections are still $9.5 billion lower than the previous year, with the decrease attributed to a decline in Personal Income Tax (PIT) receipts, resulting from a variety of factors.

Some of the reasons stated were a decline in year-end bonuses in the financial services industry, claiming of credits related to the Pass-Through Entity Tax, the acceleration of the final phase-in of the middle-class tax rate cuts, and financial market volatility throughout 2022.

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FEDERAL COURT CHARGES TWO FOR FAKE FOREIGN POLICE HQ

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Two suspects who allegedly operated an undeclared overseas police station for the People’s Republic of China were arrested on Monday morning, April 17, at their homes in New York City, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn. The two defendants, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, are charged in connection with opening and operating an undeclared and now first-known overseas police station in lower Manhattan on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) of the People’s Republic of China. They are charged also with harassing Chinese nationals residing in the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere in the United States by perpetrating transnational repression schemes targeting U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government.

The defendants’ initial appearances were scheduled for Monday afternoon, with United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho presiding.

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ADVISORY BOARD LAUNCHED AS PART OF RACIAL JUSTICE CHARTER AMENDMENTS

CITYWIDE — An advisory board, with at least two Brooklyn members, has been launched as part of the implementation of the Racial Justice Charter Amendments voted into law during the November 2022 general election, Mayor Eric Adams and Mayor’s Office of Equity Commissioner Sideya Sherman have announced. These amendments — the first of their kind in the nation — added a statement of values to the city’s charter; require the city to establish a racial equity office and commission, as well as racial equity focused plans; and, called for the city to measure the true cost of living for city residents.

The advisory board will help ensure the city continues to lead the nation in innovative, racial equity work and carries out the city’s newly enshrined charter changes.

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BROOKLYN LEADERS SERVE ON INAUGURAL ADVISORY BOARD FOR RACIAL JUSTICE CHARTER AMENDMENTS

BOROUGHWIDE — At least two of the two founding advisory board members for the Racial Justice Charter Amendments are leaders in Brooklyn. Dr. Torian Easterling, MD, MPH, chief strategic and innovation officer for One Brooklyn Health — and former First Deputy Commissioner & Chief Equity Officer for the NYC Department of Mental Health & Hygiene — was appointed to the board on Monday, as was Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO & executive director, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, an anti-poverty, policy and advocacy organization with 170 member agencies and faith partners.

Ms. Jones Austin’s grounding in Brooklyn dates back to her childhood, when her father, Reverend William Augustus Jones, Jr., was senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a role in which he served for more than four decades.

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STATE DEMOCRATIC CHAIR SCOFFS AT SANTOS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT

STATEWIDE — Upon hearing that an embattled freshman Congressman has already announced his re-election campaign, Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee Jay S. Jacobs scoffed at the news. Santos, elected in 2022 to represent New York’s newly-drawn 3rd District, which includes a portion of Queens and a large swath of Nassau County, later admitted to falsifying several parts of his education, ethnic background, earnings and campaign funds. Said Jacobs, “George Santos is 16 days late. April Fools’ Day was on the first of this month, and that would have been a more appropriate date to announce his re-election campaign.”

Members of Congress serve two-year terms in the House of Representatives, which means the party majority can switch every other year.

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NADLER DENOUNCES ‘SHAM HEARING’ OVER MANHATTAN DA ALVIN BRAGG’S LAWSUIT

MANHATTAN — Just before House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) urged a New York federal court on Monday to block Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s bid to derail a Congressional subpoena for confidential testimony, Mayor Eric Adams and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-12th C.D.) denounced what they called a “sham hearing.” The House Judiciary Committee is seeking to compel the disclosure of confidential testimony in the case involving former President Donald Trump and his alleged falsification of business documents. Warning that the field hearing is a political stunt, Nadler said, “Jim Jordan and his Republican accomplices are acting as an extension of the Trump defense team, trying to intimidate and deter the duly elected district attorney of Manhattan from doing the work his constituents elected him to do.”

Nadler, who at a media briefing on Monday, April 17, pointed out that for 4 years he was the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said, “I know what a real hearing and real oversight looks like.”